India’s ambition to become a high-income, technology-driven economy sits uneasily with a persistent truth: corporate India underinvests in research and development. The consequences are visible across sectors where domestic firms remain, at best, agile adapters of global technologies rather than originators. That is not a sustainable model. India’s R&D spending hovers at about 0.6-0.7% of GDP, far below advanced economies and several emerging peers. More tellingly, the private sector accounts for a disproportionately small share, with the government still shouldering nearly two-thirds of the burden.